At About Three In The Morning
Author's Note
This was written in 2013, before the Season 4 finale. It was too short to publish and sat unpublished here until 12/1/2020.
I added the last two paragraphs and barely hit the minimum word count.
At About Three In The Morning
A light flickered on in the dead of night, casting a long shadow into the makeshift kitchen of Golden Oaks Library. A purple, limp-winged alicorn stumbled her way in, magically flicking another light switch. “Hungry…” she mumbled, the syrupy words falling thickly from her mouth as the back of a purple hoof rubbed at her half-shut eyes. “Hungry,” she repeated, the fridge door swinging open a little too fast way before she was anywhere near it. She wobbled her way over to the humming refrigerator and willed her eyes open. Nothing. The fridge was empty.
“Fooood,” she cried. Her horn lit up and telekinetically pulled every cabinet door open. Her tired eyes scanned each and every shelf before landing on something vaguely food-like. She fell rather ungracefully down onto her haunches as one of Spike’s small blue gems floated into her grasp and she promptly began gnawing on it.
After a few minutes of fruitless biting and growling, she spit the sapphire off to the side and began pacing, stomping her hooves in frustration. She needed a food solution and she needed it now. Where does food come from? What do I do...? …APPLEJACK. She has food!! Good thing I’m such a smart genius! She jumped to her hooves and ran out of the out of the kitchen, down the stairs to the main library, and out the front door, leaving it wide open as she took off into the sky.
The leaves of apple trees grazed her lazily hanging hooves as she flew toward the home of the Apple family. She pulled herself up to the window of Applejack’s room and began tapping lightly on the glass. “Applejaaaack,” she saw something shift around in the darkness, “Applejack, waaake uuup.” She started tapping a little louder, soon enough she saw the shadowy figure of her friend get up and make her way to the window. Applejack stared groggily at Twilight a while before slowly reaching up and closing the blinds.
“Applejaaaaaack, come baaaaaaack.” Twilight whined, slapping her hooves loudly against the window frame for minutes. Applejack eventually returned and opened the window.
“Ugh, Twilight, would’ya kindly stop bangin’ on mah window in the middle o’ the night?”
“Applejack.”
“What?”
“Applejack.”
“What.”
“Applejack, I’m hungry.”
Applejack’s hoof swiftly smacked into her own face. “Well, Sugarcube, why don’t ya’ go eat somethin’?”
“I don’t have any food.”
An elongated sigh escaped Applejack’s lips, “If ah give ya some apples will y’leave me alone?” Twilight quickly nodded.
“Alright, help yerself, Ah’m going back to bed.” She began to shut the window when it suddenly stopped half way down. Twilight held it open with her magic and was looking in sadly at Applejack.
“Applejaaack.”
“What now?”
“Help.”
“Nnng.” Applejack pushed the window back up and furrowed her brow, giving her friend a stern look. “Twilight, how many apples could ya possibly need that would require mah hel-“ She stopped, “Y’know what. Fine, Ah’ll be down in a sec’.”
***
Twilight waited at the front door, rubbing her growling stomach. After what felt like a half an hour, the door creaked open as quietly as it could, and Applejack walked carefully down the squeaky steps. “Hrr fu fuo, Fuauigh,” she said through a rather large sack of apples hanging from her mouth before spitting it out and repeating, “erm, here ya go, Twilight. Knock yerself out. Please.”
Twilight suddenly enveloped her orange friend in a tight hug, already chewing an apple and getting bits of it all over Applejack’s neck. Applejack sat there uncomfortably, patting Twilight’s back before clearing her throat, “Eheh… No need ta thank me, Twi. What’re friends for ‘n’ all that…”
“Uh, Twilight...?” Applejack said, puzzled at the lack of a response. She waited a moment until finally a loud snore answered her. “…Seriously, Twilight?” the farm pony sighed. She delicately draped Twilight over her back, careful not to wake her, and started on her way back into town.
Tens of minutes of slowly trotting later, she arrived at Ponyville’s library. She made her way up to the front door, which she found wide open. “…Seriously, Twilight?” She rolled her eyes and walked in, and up the first set of stairs. As she walked by the kitchen, she noticed the fridge, as well as everything else, had been left open. “…Seriously, Twilight?” her face ended up in her hoof again. She continued up onto the bookworm’s bedroom loft and placed her carefully into the bed. Twilight rolled over and snuggled into the blankets immediately.
Applejack sighed once again while wiping bits of chewed apple from her loose hair, and made her way out, kind enough to shut the refrigerator, turn off the lights, and lock the front door as she left. Meanwhile, upstairs, a purple alicorn stirred from her slumber.
“Huh? Nnng… Spiiiike?” The sleeping dragon didn’t hear her through his ear plugs. “Spiiiiike, I’m hungry.”
***
Halfway across Ponyville, Pinkie Pie suddenly shot up from her slumber and shouted at the top of her lungs, "TWILIGHT NEEDS ME!" The baby alligator on her bed bounced as she jumped off and began collecting various supplies, stuffing them into her mane. "Okay, Gummy! You get the cakes and pies, and I'll get the grappling hook!" She waited for the telltale asynchronous blink of understanding and dove out of the window of her bedroom only to immediately burst back in through the door, "WAIT, I forgot that it's in the closet!" She shuffled through the closet again and then grabbed Gummy on her way out the window. "I'm coming Twilight!"
Twilight squirmed on the floor, complaining to an unresponsive Spike as Pinkie climbed in through the window and loudly whispered, "One food solution coming right up..." She pulled out a roll of cloth and unrolled it on the floor revealing an elaborate spread of food items. Twilight cried tears of joy all over the wonderful foods as she ate. "This is the happiest day of my life," Twilight said through the food and tears.
The End